


See the Way You Do

by TheGreatSporkWielder



Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Going On Facebook: A Darcy Lewis Fic Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-10
Updated: 2012-10-10
Packaged: 2017-11-16 00:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/533606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatSporkWielder/pseuds/TheGreatSporkWielder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce is a genius in the lab, but he's not quite as genius when it comes to reading Darcy Lewis's actions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See the Way You Do

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **laudanine** on tumblr for the "Going on Facebook" exchange. (If you've got an Ao3 account, dear, let me know and I'll gift it to you here.)

“Hey, Doc, they opened up a new Indian place downtown; do you want to go?”

 

Bruce looked up as Darcy Lewis slid into his lab. She looked as though she was on her way out of the building for the night, her purse swinging freely from her shoulder and her jacket draped over one arm.

 

How did she know he'd been craving Dal Tadka lately? But as good as that sounded, he really didn’t have the time to leave the lab to go eat, so he smiled and shook his head. “Thank you, but no. I have far too much work to do.”

 

She looked slightly disappointed, which was kind of flattering; Bruce couldn’t remember the last time anyone outside the team had wanted to spend time with him in anything other than a professional capacity. He and Darcy had become friends in the months since he'd decided to stay in New York, and Bruce was perilously close to having feelings that were far more than friendly towards her, despite the fact that he knew how foolish it was to even think such things.

 

“Maybe some other time, then?” she asked, twisting a lock of her dark hair between two fingers, and his gaze flitted across her hopeful expression, and as much as he knew how dangerous going anywhere with someone as young and breakable as Darcy could be, he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint her any further.

 

“Sure,” he said, nodding as he returned his gaze to his equations so he wouldn't have to see the look on her face. “Some other time.”

 

* * *

 

“So,” Darcy startled Bruce out of his thoughts as she plunked down next to him on the sofa in one of SHIELD’s break rooms, “I hear you’re a fan of Billy Joel.”

 

“Who told you that?” Bruce asked warily, checking to make sure he hadn’t spilled any of his tea on his clothes.

 

“A little friend I like to call _Pandora_. You listen to one of his stations pretty much nonstop.”

 

“Ah,” Bruce replied. “Well, yes, I suppose I am. It’s good background music for when I’m working.”

 

“Hey, not here to judge your musical tastes, however outdated they may be,” Darcy teased, smiling, holding her hands up in surrender, and Bruce felt his lips curling up in response. “I just came by to say that I hear he’s going to be in town for one of those Special Secret kind of shows and was wondering if you wanted to go. I bet we could get Pepper to hook us up with a couple of tickets.”

 

Bruce blinked at her. “I didn’t think you liked Billy Joel.”

 

A strange expression crossed her face before her smile settled back into place. “Oh, yeah, absolutely. Who doesn’t like Billy Joel? So, wanna go?”

 

“I really shouldn’t,” said Bruce. “Groups of highly emotional people in small places. Not really great for my stress levels.”

 

“Right,” she replied, her lips twisting ruefully. “Should’ve thought of that.”

 

“I appreciate the thought, though,” he said. “It was nice of you to think of it.”

 

That odd something flickered in her eyes again. “Nice. Yeah. Well, you know, I’m always nice.”

 

* * *

 

"Just _try_ it, you idiot." Darcy's annoyed mutter was loud in the silence of the lab.

 

Bruce looked quizzically at Darcy. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

 

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I didn't think you could hear that."

 

"What's going on?"

 

Darcy looked a bit cornered, as though she was searching for something to say. "Um..it's just..." she trailed off. "I, uh...was supposed to go and see _Les Miserables_ with...uh, Jane tonight." She reached into her purse and pulled out two tickets, "but..she...um, bailed on me because...one of her grad school friends is in town and now I've got this extra ticket."

 

"That's odd," said Bruce. "That doesn't seem like Dr. Foster."

 

Darcy's eyelids fluttered nervously. "Well," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear, "she...got a little excited and forgot to let me know her friend was coming."

 

"I see," said Bruce sympathetically. "You should see if Agent Hill is free; I know she loves Broadway."

 

Darcy raised an eyebrow at him. "Do _you_ want to come with me? I'd hate to see this ticket go to waste."

 

Bruce shook his head. "I do like _Les Miserables,"_ he said. "But I'm afraid I can't."

 

Darcy shook one of the tickets at him. "Come on," she cajoled, though he could tell by the set of her shoulders that she had already conceded defeat, "you know you want to."

 

Bruce couldn't help the small smile that crept across his face.

 

* * *

 

“You know, Bruce, if you don’t want to go out with me, you can just _say_ so; you don’t have to keep making up excuses.”

 

He pulled his eyes from his microscope and looked up at her. “What?”

 

Darcy rolled her eyes at him. “I’ve been not-so-subtly trying to get you to go out with me for _weeks;_ just put me out of my misery and tell me you’re not interested, already.”

 

He blinked again. “Wait, _what?”_

 

Darcy cocked an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I was more subtle than I thought. The Indian restaurant? The Billy Joel concert? _Les Miz_?"

 

"Oh."

 

"Did you really not pick up on my cues? Or maybe you’re just _really_ that oblivious.”

 

Bruce sighed and adjusted his glasses. “Maybe both?" he said, abashed. "It’s been a while since I was actually considered ‘dateable.’”

 

Darcy leaned in and pulled his glasses off his nose. “I think you’re dateable,” she said, her blue eyes serious. “In fact, I would like nothing more than for you to take me out to dinner and then bring me back to your room and apply that admirable sense of focus and meticulous attention to detail to finding all of my erogenous zones.”

 

Bruce could feel himself flushing at her bluntness, but he couldn’t deny that he’d thought about doing just that once or twice. “That,” he said thoughtfully, tracing the lines of her face with his gaze, “sounds like a commendable line of research to wish to pursue.”

 

A smile slowly spread across her face. “Doesn’t it, though? But I only trust _you_ to go about it properly, Doctor Banner.”

 

He could feel an answering smile curling his lips. “Your faith in my abilities is extremely gratifying, Miss Lewis.”

 

"Well, then," she replied, reaching out to twine her fingers with his, "I think it's about time you provided me with proof; I can't live entirely by faith, you know. As a man of science, I'm sure you understand."

 

"I do," Bruce replied, squeezing her fingers. "And I'm more than willing to assist you in this endeavor."

 

"Wonderful," Darcy replied, her smile widening. "Then let's go do some science."   


End file.
